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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23151160">secrets I have held in my heart</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/auroraoraora/pseuds/auroraoraora'>auroraoraora</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>King of the Animals [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>2019, Alcohol, Instagram, M/M, Road Trips, oikawa has anxiety, oikawa having realizations in the Mexico City airport</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 11:00:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,708</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23151160</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/auroraoraora/pseuds/auroraoraora</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Iwaizumi is graduating from university. Oikawa- despite living in Argentina- would do anything to be there. Including an eight hour drive, a flight with two connections, and a four hour train ride.<br/>tl;dr Oikawa decides it's time to confess to Iwaizumi.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>King of the Animals [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/560581</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>82</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>secrets I have held in my heart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Title from "I Wanna Be Yours" by Arctic Monkeys.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>oikyaawa</strong>
</p><p>San Juan, Argentina</p><p>(A young man is looking into the camera with a small smile on his face. He looks confident, like he is ready to take on the world.)</p><p>9.5k likes</p><p><strong>oikyaawa</strong> My first game with the team is tonight! I’m ready to win!</p><p>#hot #japanese #argentina #clubatleticosanjuan #volleyball</p><p>View all 77 comments</p><p><strong>itsyaboimakki </strong>Begone thot</p><p><strong>mattsunissei </strong>thotiana</p><p>2 hours ago</p>
<hr/><p>
  <em>Why are those two always so mean to me?</em>
</p><p>Tooru Oikawa wasn’t mad at them, though. Hanamaki and Matsukawa were just expressing themselves in the only way they knew how- memes. <em>That’s probably why they’ve known each other for so long, but still haven’t told each other that they want each other.</em> He had decided long ago that he was never going to interfere (well, actually, Iwaizumi had told him that he would break his bones if he told them, which was definitely a deciding factor) but this was just getting ridiculous. <em>Meanwhile, Mr. Refreshing is actually </em>married<em>- still blows my mind that people my age are married- and that one that looked like a delinquent- the long haired one, not the bald one- is a fashion designer in Tokyo?</em></p><p>
  <em>Meanwhile, I can barely get Iwa-chan to talk to me. I still know what he’s doing- I look at all his posts, but I don’t know if he even looks at mine. He probably just wants to forget about me. He’s still in vet school, so he is definitely busy, but too busy to talk to me? I don’t think that exists.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Mmm… Iwa-chan as a vet… I want to be an injured kitten so he can hold me in his big, strong arms… is that too far?</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>17,098 kilometers.</p><p>Whenever Hajime Iwaizumi tapped on Oikawa’s location tag on Instagram, that number would sit there, taunting him. He didn’t think there was any place on Earth farther from him than San Juan, Argentina.</p><p>People told him he looked good for being in his last year of veterinary school. He couldn’t say he felt that way, though. He spent nearly all his waking hours either in clinical training or studying, leaving almost no time for anything else. <em>I barely even have time to work out anymore. I can maybe jog occasionally, but I miss lifting weights, spiking the balls that Oikawa tossed me-</em></p><p>Iwaizumi had tried to play volleyball in college, but he’d had to quit after his second year. As classes were becoming more difficult, it had been hard to admit that he would need the extra time to study, even if he knew that his grades were more important than sports.</p><p>Thankfully for him, however, graduation was only six months away. Morioka was a nice town, but he was hoping to find a job further south. He was hoping for something by the sea, but he wasn’t too fixated on it, knowing that most open veterinary jobs were in rural areas. <em>All I need is me, a small house, and a good job. It doesn’t matter if he’s there or not. </em>But even as he thought that, he knew deep down that it wasn’t true.</p><p>It had been very hard on him when Oikawa had first told him that a team in Argentina had scouted him, and that he would be moving over there. He’d been halfway through an astronomy degree when he’d gotten the offer, and he’d elected to drop out and accept it. Oikawa had said that he couldn’t pass up the chance to live in another country, and the town of San Juan was supposed to be amazingly beautiful.</p><p>Just going off Oikawa’s pictures, San Juan looked like a mix between a European city and California. It seemed like he was always at this one café, mostly with various dates.</p><p>Over the years, Oikawa had been with a lot of people. Iwaizumi had already known and accepted it, but since his move to South America, barely a week went by without him posting a picture of himself with a new person- 85% of the time it was a woman, but occasionally a man would show up as well.</p><p>(He almost made a complete fool of himself when, after Oikawa had posted a picture with Shoyo Hinata, formerly of Karasuno (who was apparently living in Brazil?) he almost left a comment asking why he would date him. Luckily, he thought better of it before he hit the confirmation button.)</p><p>
  <em>I’ve always wanted a quiet life, so why did I have to fall for someone as loud and dramatic as him? It would be so much easier if I could just give it up. I don’t have time now, but maybe I could try after graduation? I’m sure I could find someone else if I tried. I did get offers during high school and college.</em>
</p><p>Every time he thought about giving up on Oikawa, there was a small part inside of him that just wouldn’t let him. He’d been able to squash that part down when they’d been in school together, but it had gotten weaker as he’d gotten older. He couldn’t act angry about all the crazy things Oikawa did if he never saw him, after all.</p>
<hr/><p>Oikawa didn’t know why at first, but he found himself researching flights to Morioka, Japan. However, he was quickly put off by the long travel times.</p><p>
  <em>60 hours? Seriously? Why does it take two and a half days? I guess that’s to be expected, though, when neither of us live in huge cities. Maybe if I get to Buenos Aires or Santiago, and then take the Shinkansen from Tokyo, it would be a lot easier.</em>
</p><p><em>Wait, why did I say us? Am I really planning a crazy scheme to go and see Iwa-chan? Well, I mean, the season will be over soon, and then I won’t have anything to do for a while. And, in a coincidence that can probably only be explained as divine intervention, his graduation is during that time, and why wouldn’t I go to my best childhood friend’s college graduation? Especially when he’ll be a doctor afterwards. It’s the next prefecture from Miyagi, so I’m sure everyone else will be there too. It’ll look bad if I’m the only person who’s not there! I must be- </em>I’m<em> the one who loves Iwa-chan the most.</em></p><p>Between Buenos Aires and Santiago, Santiago was a lot closer, but it was also on the other side of an international border. Oikawa still didn’t exactly feel comfortable driving long distances, and he still wasn’t great at reading Spanish, but if this trip was going to be about getting out of his comfort zone, then he decided he might as well go all the way with it.</p><p>
  <em>Eight hours to drive to Santiago, then eight hours to fly to Mexico City, a three-hour layover, then three hours to Dallas, a 90-minute layover, then 14 hours to Tokyo, then a three-hour train ride up to Morioka. Simple, right? I’ll sleep at my parent’s house. Luckily, the flight from Santiago is an overnight flight, so I don’t have to get a hotel there. It’s going to be expensive, but it’ll be worth it.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Now, what’s the perfect present that says, “I’m sorry I haven’t talked to you in a while” but also says “I am in love with you, please love me”?</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>In years past, Oikawa had dreaded the time between the qualifiers and the actual tournament. This year, however, was different. While the rest of his teammates were going to a training camp, he had gotten special permission to skip it and return to Japan.</p><p>He hated to admit it, but aside from away games, he had never really gotten a chance to explore the country he now lived in. (Part of him still hesitated at calling it home.) He was a little scared of driving through the mountains- the Andes were a lot bigger than the mountains back in Miyagi.</p><p>Luckily, his flight from Santiago didn’t take off until 11:30 pm, so he loaded up his car the night before, woke up at 7 am to take a shower (it’d be at least a day until he could get another one) and get on the road by 8 am. He reached the city of Mendoza at around 10 am, and about an hour later, he reached Uspallata, where he stopped for gas and food.</p><p>Between having to slow down in the mountains and the wait at the border crossing, it was around 2:00 when he finally crossed into Chile. From there, it was only another two hours before he finally reached Santiago.</p><p>
  <em>Well, I probably could’ve slept in and left the house later this morning, but I’m okay with this outcome. I guess there are a lot of shops around here, maybe I could try getting something for him?</em>
</p><p>Driving into town, his eye was immediately caught by Sky Costanera, the tallest building in South America. There was a shopping mall next to it, and Oikawa decided it was as good a place as any to try and find something.</p><p>As he slowly made his way into the mall, a plane flew overhead, a lot lower than he’d ever seen before. <em>I’m going to be on one of those tonight. I’m going back to Japan for the first time since I came here, and I should be excited, right? But I’m kind of nervous, too. I’ll be seeing Iwa-chan and everyone else for the first time in a while, and I suppose I’ll end up confessing to him. Like, what if he’s dating someone else? That’d be the worst!</em></p><p>Each of the six levels of the mall seemed to be dedicated to a certain thing, which was going to be helpful. The basement seemed to be for different services, so Oikawa decided to skip it. Eventually, he ended up in Lapiz Lopez, a stationary store.</p><p><em>This pen is both gorgeous and useful, but 46 thousand pesos? That’s… </em>he pulled out his phone to Google it. <em>…6500 yen? 3600 Argentine pesos? Japanese brands are higher quality, but it’s better to find something that can’t be bought in Japan.</em> <em>Maybe I should’ve gone shopping in Mendoza after all. Oh well, it’s not every day your best friend becomes a doctor.</em></p><p>It was around this time that he’d formed an idea in his head. He remembered once watching a TV show, and for Christmas, the male romantic lead had decided to give his girlfriend a teapot, and he’d filled it with mementos and inside jokes of their time together. <em>I’d need to include a picture of our team, and maybe something related to bug catching? And the bag must be blue. And he included a letter with his true feelings- I can write it on the plane from Dallas to Tokyo, or even on the train. </em></p><p>Realizing it was getting close to the time that he’d need to go to the airport, and that most of the things he wanted to buy would be best bought in his home country, Oikawa quickly went back to Lapiz Lopez to buy a notebook and some pens, then left the mall to make his way to the airport.</p><p>The check in process was relatively straightforward. Oikawa had some time to kill, so he ate dinner while scrolling through his Instagram feed. He thought about posting something, but thought better of it, realizing that it wouldn’t be a surprise that he was coming to Japan if he was posting pictures in various foreign countries.</p><p>It was still hilarious to him, in an ironic kind of way, that Tobio and Ushijima were on the same pro team. After he’d spent such a long time hating them both, the universe had found a way to get back at him. Being half a world away from them for so long, he honestly didn’t think much about it anymore, and his mental health had been improved for it. He had thought before about going back to Japan and playing in the Japanese leagues, but he still had another two years on his contract, so he couldn’t afford to think about it now.</p><p>Shoyo’s team, on the other hand, looked like it was filled with a bunch of crazy characters. There was one who kind of looked like an owl, a blond one that looked like a playboy, and Sakusa, the mysophobic top ace of Tokyo. Oikawa admitted that he had hated Shoyo for a while, too, but it hadn’t been even close to the level of hatred he’d felt for Ushijima or Kageyama, or above all, himself. Iwaizumi had always been there to snap him out of his anxious episodes (he knew now that was what they were) but being away from his stressors, as well as the coping techniques he learned from his therapist in Argentina, helped a lot as well.</p><p>Before he knew it, it was time to board the plane, and Oikawa fell asleep as the plane ascended on its way to Mexico City.</p>
<hr/><p>Oikawa had barely managed to wake up as the plane descended. He barely remembered shuffling off the plane, and his eyes lit up immediately when he saw a Starbucks close by. After five minutes of waiting in line (anyone working at 5 am needed their coffee more than he did) he finally had his hazelnut latte.</p><p>He was browsing his Instagram again when he saw a new post from the person he was making this journey for.</p><p>
  <strong>iwaizumi_hajime</strong>
</p><p>Morioka, Japan</p><p>(There is a picture of what could be either a sunset or a sunrise. There are some trees in the background.)</p><p>75 likes</p><p><strong>iwaizumi_hajime</strong> I can’t believe I graduate this week. I’m going to be a doctor. It’s so strange thinking of myself as a real adult. There’s just one thing that could make this perfect, but I don’t think it’ll happen for me. I’ve loved the same person for a very long time, but lately, I feel like they’re drifting away from me-</p><p>The post went on for a while, but Oikawa couldn’t bring himself to read the rest. Did Iwaizumi really love someone else? If Oikawa hadn’t come this far, he knew he would be turning back, not even caring about the money he’d spent on everything. <em>Maybe it’s best if I don’t go. I can just hang around Sendai for a few days until I need to go back to Argentina.</em></p><p>
  <em>You know what? Fuck that. I’ve doubted myself before, sure, but never this much. Iwa-chan would slap the shit out of me if he saw me like this, and I’d deserve it. I didn’t get to where I am now by doubting myself like this. All I have to do is try, and if it doesn’t work, I’ll figure it out later. But until then, I just have to keep going-</em>
</p><p>“Now boarding for Dallas.”</p><p>
  <em>Starting right now.</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>He didn’t get to see much of the Dallas airport- by the time he got through customs, he only had about ten minutes before he had to get on the last plane to Tokyo.</p>
<hr/><p>On the plane, he could feel the words pouring out of his brain and onto the paper. He could feel himself falling asleep after the seventh page, so he decided to give into what his body wanted and fall asleep on a plane for a second time.</p>
<hr/><p>He woke up a few hours out from Narita airport, and he decided to look over his letter. Seven pages was probably too much, but looking at it, he couldn’t find anything that he thought needed to be removed. In fact, maybe it needed more…</p><p>The plane began its descent into Japan as he was finishing off the tenth page. Part of him still didn’t know how to feel about being back in his home country for the first time in four years, but he was now ready to face his fears and find out whether or not he could get a date with his first love.</p><p>Oikawa had a few hours before he had to get on the Shinkansen that would take him up to Sendai, so he took the train into central Tokyo to do some shopping. It was an hour ride, and it was rush hour, so the train was packed, and he barely had enough space to breathe. He’d been living in smaller cities for his entire life, so he always felt slightly uncomfortable in a huge city. Santiago had been big, but he’d only been there for a few hours, and it was nothing compared to Tokyo.</p><p>He was getting tired of malls, but the Yaesu mall was connected to the station, so he wouldn’t have to worry so much about getting back in time for the train. Mizuno was far from the entrance, but that didn’t matter; he just knew they’d have the perfect bag. 7000 yen later, he had it. <em>I know I have some photos of the team at my parent’s house, and it doesn’t really make sense to get a frame until I know the size of the picture. Is that enough stuff? It should be. I can pack everything up tonight. For now, I can try and find my way to the gate that will take me back home to Miyagi.</em></p>
<hr/><p>Oikawa knew it was hard for his parents to come and get him from Sendai station at 11 pm, but they weren’t faking the happiness they felt when they saw him. He had planned on taking the bus back home, but they’d insisted on coming to get him. It helped that it was Friday, so they wouldn’t have to work the next day. (He would never tell his friends that he had almost gotten into the driver’s seat, thinking it was the passenger.)</p><p>Once Oikawa had gotten to his old bedroom, he embarked on a search to find the best picture to frame and give to Iwaizumi. <em>Iwa-chan needs a picture to put on his desk, otherwise people will think he has no friends! </em>But even as he thought that, he knew it wasn’t true. He knew that Iwaizumi had an active social life in college, even if he had to spend most of his time studying. Back in high school, he had been jealous that Iwaizumi seemed to be more popular than him amongst the team, but in retrospect, he thought that he had been jealous that others could express their admiration for him when he didn’t yet have the words to do that himself.</p><p>In the end, he had found two that he thought were equally fitting. The first was a picture of the entire team. He had managed to find one with Kyoutani in it, even though he hadn’t been on the team with them for very long. Even if Oikawa was the only one smiling in the picture, it was still the best one he could find.</p><p>The other had been found by his mother. She had left some old photos in a shoebox, which had been left on his bed. In the picture, the two of them were seven years old, posing with their bug catching nets. There had been some others with them playing volleyball together, but that one had been his favorite.</p><p>Oikawa knew he should sleep, but he wasn’t nearly tired enough to. Argentina was twelve hours behind Japan, so despite his surroundings, his internal clock was convinced it was the middle of the day. Luckily his parents hadn’t thrown out all his old manga (or given it to Takeru) so at least he had something to do in the middle of the night.</p>
<hr/><p>After five cups of coffee, he was ready to go to Sendai Loft to get the perfect picture frame. Luckily for him, none of his high school friends were shopping at a home goods store at 11 am on a Saturday, so he was able to keep the surprise going. Due to his own paranoia and the excess caffeine, he darted through the aisles, and the employees probably thought he was going to steal something. Part of him wanted to grab lunch at the ramen shop they used to go to, but the odds that he would be spotted were just too great. Besides, his sister and her husband had heard he was back in town, so they had invited the three of them over for dinner that night. He could never pass up a chance to see Takeru. Takeru was starting high school this year, and he had been extremely excited when he heard that he’d gotten into Aoba Johsai.</p><p>He wanted to be more attentive during dinner, but the lack of sleep was catching up to him, and so his parents had quickly brought him home after dessert. Takeru was now only about 10 centimeters shorter than him, and he felt bad that his nephew had been trying to tell him stories, but he had just been too tired to pay any attention.</p>
<hr/><p>Oikawa wasn’t normally a heavy sleeper, but he had been that night. He had set an alarm on his phone to wake him up, but it must not have been loud enough, because his father had entered the room to turn the alarm off and shake him awake.</p><p>“The graduation starts at noon, right? You have to get on the train at 11, so we’re leaving to take you to the station at 10:30. It’s 9 right now.”</p><p>Oikawa got in and out of the shower in record time, much to the amusement of his parents. During school, they had always complained about how long he took in the bathroom, but now they had nothing to say about the subject. As much as he loved being with his parents again, he had gotten used to being on his own; he especially missed not having a car.</p><p>The train ride was uneventful, along with the 10-minute bus ride that followed. Once he got to the campus, he just had to follow the signs to the gym, and the voices (and hair) that could only belong to Hanamaki and Matsukawa. He waited until the entire group was together and cleared his throat.</p><p>To say that they looked like they had seen a ghost would be an understatement. It’s not every day that someone who lives on the opposite side of the world turns up in front of you. Kindaichi was trying to be subtle, but Oikawa had seen him pinching his arm.</p><p>“Dude! What’s going on? How are you?”</p><p>“I thought I smelled a thot.”</p><p>“Mattsun, that was mean! I don’t come back to Japan for four years, and this is the welcome I get? See if I ever come back again.”</p><p>“That’s bullshit, and we all know it.” The group had settled in their seats, waiting for the ceremony to start. They sat through various speeches from people they would never speak to and various songs that the graduates had to sing. Finally, it was time for the graduates to cross the stage. When Iwaizumi crossed the stage wearing a suit, Oikawa had to actively resist the urge to start drooling. He’d complained about being not as fit as usual, but as far as Oikawa could see, he had no need to worry.</p><p>As the ceremony ended, the graduates walked out in an orderly fashion. Once they had all gone, the spectators also left, the two groups meeting outside the gym. As the former team attempted to find their former ace, he had naturally been found by his parents first. His mother was crying and hugging him, while his father slapped him on the back and laughed.</p><p>“What’s up, doc?” Hanamaki had called out. Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, but it was clear that it wasn’t genuine. Without any prior planning, they had formed a line to offer their congratulations, Oikawa being last.</p><p>“What are you doing here?” The look of surprise on Iwaizumi’s face was unlike anything they had ever seen from him before. “I didn’t- you’re-”</p><p>“Did you really think I could miss this, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa could feel the tears forming at the corner of his eyes, <em>stop crying goddammit!</em></p><p>“We didn’t know he was coming, either,” Kunimi said. “I didn’t think it was possible to pull off this kind of surprise in this day and age, especially for someone as social media-obsessed as him, but he did it.”</p><p>“I haven’t even opened Instagram today. I’m so proud of myself. How was your surprise?”</p><p>“It’s alright,” Iwaizumi half-heartedly grumbled. “You are the only person I know who would do this. Now, who’s ready to go get drunk?”</p>
<hr/><p>As it turned out, all their former underclassmen had work in the morning, so none of them were able to drink with their upperclassmen. Given the small size of their group, Iwaizumi decided that it would be easier and cheaper to buy some beer at a convenience store, then go to his place and drink it together. Oikawa thought it was funny- he’s been to the Iwaizumi house more times than he can count, but this was his first time going to a place that only belonged to him. Hanamaki and Matsukawa rode separately, as they had before the ceremony. Once again, Oikawa had tried to get into the driver’s side of the car, and Iwaizumi had to ask him, “You don’t even know the way, so why are you trying to drive, dumbass?”</p><p>He had wanted to clap back with a jab about Iwaizumi’s driving (“Well, Iwa-chan probably has really bad road rage, so maybe I should just walk!”) but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. <em>Why am I being so awkward? We always used to say that kind of stuff to each other, so why can’t I say it now? Is it because we haven’t seen each other in so long? Or is it because of the letter that’s in the bag? I need to calm down.</em></p><p>As they pulled into the Family Mart parking lot, Iwaizumi finally asked, “What’s with the bag, anyway? Were you planning on spending the night?”</p><p>“It’s your present, Iwa-chan.”</p><p>“It is a nice bag. Is that Mizuno?”</p><p>“It is, but there’s more to it than that. You can open it when we get back to your place.”</p><p>“How many beers are you going to want? You only had one last time.” They had met up once after Oikawa’s 20<sup>th</sup> birthday to drink together, but it had ended quickly and awkwardly after Oikawa announced that he was moving to Argentina. Since then, they had only liked each other’s pictures, a far cry from what they once had been. “I thought you didn’t want to be around me anymore. So why are you here now?”</p><p>“Iwa-chan-”</p><p>“It was kind of nice to come here and not be known as ‘Oikawa’s friend.’ I get to be my own person here, after I figured out who that was. I had been playing college volleyball for a while, but I had to quit around the same time you left. I had to give up the two things I valued most at the same time, and it was hard just to get out of bed in the morning, at least at first. I’m doing fine now, though, and that’s what matters.”</p><p>“It was hard for me, too. Moving to the other side of the world to a country where you don’t speak the language isn’t easy, either. I can go back to college whenever I want, but this is something I can only do now.”</p><p>“Dating half the population of your town?”</p><p>“What, are you jealous or something?” He meant it to come off as mocking, but it sounded more teasing than anything else.</p><p>“I am, yeah.” Oikawa had finally gone silent, so Iwaizumi continued. “I tried to hate you, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was jealous that all these people got to be by your side, and I was stuck watching from half a world away.”</p><p>“You could have tried reaching out.”</p><p>“You could have, too.”</p><p>“I… might’ve written you a ten-page love letter on the flight over here.”</p><p>“How is it even possible that we fucked up this badly? Kindaichi’s doing better than us, and you remember what he was like back then.”</p><p>“Wait, what?”</p><p>“He bought a ring. He doesn’t have any older siblings, so he asked me for help.”</p><p>“I just can’t picture Kunimi married. Like, I can picture Kindaichi at the altar, but the other person is just a blur.”</p><p>“Why are we talking about this when we should be making out right now?”</p><p>Iwaizumi had moved in to brush his lips against Oikawa’s, and Oikawa had responded in kind until a knock was heard on the passenger side window.</p><p>“Hello, this is the police, you need to come with us.” Matsukawa had put on a fake voice, and Hanamaki was right behind, laughing his ass off.</p><p>The four of them went into the store to pick out some beer, and Iwaizumi had managed to murmur into Oikawa’s ear, “We’re doing that again before you go back to Argentina.”</p>
<hr/><p>Iwaizumi’s apartment was small, and mostly boxed up. He had accepted a job in Hiroshima prefecture, on the opposite end of Honshu. He was looking forward to the warmer weather and time at the beach.</p><p>“All my cups are put away, so we’re drinking out of the cans.”</p><p>“Yes, doctor,” Hanamaki and Matsukawa chorused.</p><p>“Seriously, guys? You don’t have to address me as doctor every time I say something.”</p><p>“Okay, doctor.”</p><p>“You know what? I give up. And why did you join in, Shittykawa?”</p><p>“Please don’t air your kinks out in public. You two are nasty.”</p><p>“I’m not nearly drunk enough to deal with this shit.”</p><p>Oikawa brought out his gift for Iwaizumi.</p><p>“Kay, we got a fancy-ass pen, and two pictures. Oh, that’s cute! You’re posing with your little bug catching nets as kids. And Oikawa’s wearing his alien t-shirt- guess he was always a giant nerd. And what’s this envelope? It’s really thick.”</p><p>“Please don’t open that. It’s only for Iwa-chan to read.”</p><p>“Would you rather I read it now or later?”</p><p>“You can read it whenever, Iwa-chan. Just be sober for it, please?”</p><p>“Yeah, of course.”</p><p>Hanamaki and Matsukawa mimed gagging, but the other two ignored them. Iwaizumi disappeared into his bedroom and the other three cracked open their cans.</p><p>“Seriously? Watari has a girlfriend, and he never told me? I knew about the whole Kyoutani and Yahaba thing, but I can’t believe I didn’t hear about that!”</p><p>“Watari’s had a few girlfriends. Kyoutani and Yahaba… I can’t remember if they’re together right now or not. They’ll be all over each other, then three days later they’ll ‘break up,’ but they’ll be back together again within a week. Kyoutani works with Karasuno’s Tanaka, doesn’t he?”</p><p>“Yeah. I remember hearing he called Iwaizumi, freaking out. He wanted to challenge him or some shit, like how he did with Iwaizumi back then. I guess they’re friends now, though.”</p><p>“Remember how we reacted when Yahaba got into a fight with Shiratorizawa’s Shirabu? Then Kyoutani looked over at their ace and he peed his pants. Or maybe he started crying? It was one of those. Or maybe both?”</p><p>“Did you guys keep all the juicy drama away from me on purpose? I never heard about any of this! This isn’t fair!”</p><p>“You never heard about it because we made it up. Well, the Kyoutani and Tanaka thing is real, but we made up the rest.”</p><p>Oikawa had had enough for a while, so he decided to go into Iwaizumi’s bedroom. As he expected, Iwaizumi was reading, but Oikawa couldn’t pinpoint the emotion in his eyes.</p><p>“Iwa-chan, they’re bullying me. They’re telling me about fake drama that didn’t actually happen, just to mess with me.”</p><p>“Did they tell you that the Yahaba vs. Shirabu fight was fake? Because it wasn’t. They just had to keep it quiet so those guys could graduate, so that’s why it didn’t spread on social media, and it’s why you didn’t hear about it.”</p><p>“Well, you still should’ve told me.”</p><p>“And you should’ve told me all of this. How long have you been holding this in for?”</p><p>“Too long.” Oikawa leaned in for a quick kiss. “Did you finish reading it yet?”</p><p>“No, but honestly, I don’t know if I need to.”</p><p>“Wanna grab a beer?”</p><p>As the two of them walked into the living room, Oikawa didn’t know what he expected to see, but it wasn’t Hanamaki and Matsukawa locking lips.</p><p>“You don’t get to say anything about me and Iwa-chan anymore! You guys are just as bad as us!”</p><p>“What? We’ve been dating for seven years, what are you talking about?”</p><p>“HUH?”</p><p>“Yeah, we wanted to see how long it would take you to notice. It got a lot easier after you moved out of the country.”</p><p>“But… Iwa-chan told me he would break my bones if I said anything to you. He said you two had to figure it out on your own, or else it wouldn’t mean anything.”</p><p>“You looked like you wanted to say something a few times, but something inside was stopping you. And now we know it was the fear of having Dr. Hajime Iwaizumi break your bones.”</p><p>“Whatever, it’s cool. We’re dating, we live together, and we have two babies- our shitlord of a cat, Naruto, and Wasp Mouth.”</p><p>“What the fuck is Wasp Mouth?”</p><p>“That is our joint meme account! How dare you not know it after we invited you to follow it?”</p><p>“Oh, that shitty meme page? I unfollowed after three days.”</p><p>“How dare you insult our family business like that?”</p><p>And as the four of them talked and laughed, Oikawa wondered if this wasn’t where he was meant to be, after all.</p><p>(After Hanamaki and Matsukawa went home, Oikawa and Iwaizumi had their promised make out session. However, it ended abruptly after “Dr. Iwa-chan, I’m sick,” followed by a fake cough.</p><p>When asked if Iwaizumi had accepted a job in Hiroshima prefecture because of their professional men’s volleyball team, he violently denied it, but not without a red glow to his face.)</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Oikawa (texting): Dr. Iwa-chan, I’m sick *coughs seductively*<br/>Iwaizumi: wtf is wrong with you<br/>O: I’m trying to be sexy Iwa-chan! I’m adding spice to our long distance relationship!<br/>I: then just send nudes like normal people jfc<br/>Oikawa makes it a game to send pics at the worst possible time (but Iwaizumi wins when he sends a dick pic during a game and the rest of the team end up seeing it too) he is embarrassed but “it’s ok, Iwa-chan, they said it was impressive!”</p><p>Okay, but seriously, the panic in the world right now is taking a huge toll on me. Trying to walk the line between being informed and making yourself paranoid is very difficult, especially for those of us who already deal with mental illness, myself included. I’ve barely been able to sleep; my anxiety levels have been that high. It’s okay if it’s too much for you right now- that doesn’t make you weak. It’s okay to seek out escapism occasionally, so hopefully I can be that for someone. I had no idea that, when I decided this would be published in mid-March, that I would buy a pack of napkins as a backup in case I ran out of toilet paper before the stores could get any back in stock. Stay safe out there, everybody. Wash your hands, keep your distance from elderly relatives, and know that it's okay if you need a breather- it doesn't make you a bad person.</p><p>I'm not trying to decide on future stories just yet. I've never written Yuri on Ice before, but I want to try. One of my sisters is getting married this summer, and I'm sure that will take up a lot of my time.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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